biological sciences
Vanderbilt receives Gates Foundation grant to develop wristband mosquito repellent device
Jun. 8, 2015—Vanderbilt biologist Laurence Zwiebel has received a Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Exploration grant to create a wrist-band device that devises a personal "no-fly zone" offering protection from mosquitoes.
Vanderbilt University honors 28 as emeriti faculty
May. 8, 2015—Twenty-eight retiring faculty members were recognized during Vanderbilt’s Commencement ceremony May 8, when the university honored their years of service and bestowed on them the title of emeritus or emerita faculty.
Locating the brain’s SAD center
May. 7, 2015—Vanderbilt biologists have localized the seasonal light cycle effects that drive seasonal affective disorder to a small region of the brain called the dorsal raphe nucleus.
New player in neuronal communication
May. 1, 2015—Vanderbilt researchers have discovered a novel mechanism for the development of dendritic spines – sites of nerve cell communication.
New insight into how brain makes memories
Apr. 23, 2015—Vanderbilt researchers have identified the role that a key protein associated with autism and the co-occurrence of alcohol dependency and depression plays in forming the spines that create new connections in the brain.
Bordenstein receives grant to study bacterial infections passed from mother to offspring
Apr. 10, 2015—Seth Bordenstein, associate professor of biological sciences and pathology, microbiology and immunology, has been awarded a $950,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for research into the regulation of bacterial infections that are passed from mother to offspring.
‘Stretched’ cells promote cancer
Feb. 19, 2015—Mechanical stress appears to be a critical factor in activating normal tissue-associated fibroblasts to generate cancer-associated fibroblasts.
Circadian clock – Angelman syndrome link established
Feb. 5, 2015—Vanderbilt biologists have found a direct link between the biological clock and Angelman syndrome, a neurogenetic disorder that occurs in more than one in every 15,000 live births. The link may provide a valuable way to judge the effectiveness of the first experimental drugs under development for treating the syndrome.
New ‘reset’ button discovered for circadian clock
Feb. 2, 2015—The discovery of a new "reset" button for the brain’s master biological clock could eventually lead to new treatments for seasonal affective disorder, reduce the adverse health effects of working the night shift, and possibly even treat jet lag.
The most popular research news stories of 2014
Dec. 26, 2014—Electricity, learning, marijuana, outer space and planet Earth were the hot topics of 2014.
Electric eels deliver Taser-like shocks
Dec. 4, 2014—A Vanderbilt biologist has determined that electric eels possess an electroshock system uncannily similar to a Taser.
Vanderbilt biologists contribute to major genetic study of malaria mosquitoes
Nov. 27, 2014—Vanderbilt biologists played an important supporting role in a major genetic study of malaria-carrying mosquitoes published this week in the journal "Science."